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Finally, Anand Marriage Act gets Cabinet approval

Anand marriage bill is passed in parliament. Sikhs will be able to register marriages under 1909 Act .

New Delhi, April 12
Sikh couples will soon be able to get their marriages registered
under the Anand Marriage Act, 1909, instead of the Hindu Marriage Act,
1955.

Accepting
the long-standing demand of Sikhs, the Cabinet today approved
amendments to the Anand Marriage Act, 1909, to provide for registration
of Sikh marriages. A Bill to this effect would be introduced in
Parliament when the Budget Session resumes later this month.

The
Cabinet also approved the introduction of a Bill to amend the
Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969, to include registration of
marriages as well. The move aims at utilising the existing
administrative mechanism to maintain marriage records on the lines of
records of births and deaths.

The amendment would allow couples to
get their marriages registered independent of their religion, though
the option of getting marriages registered under the Hindu Marriage Act
and the Special Marriages Act would continue.

Though the Law
Ministry note in respect of this amendment talked of compulsory
registration of marriages, HRD Minister Kapil Sibal clarified, “Those
who wish can get their marriage registered under this new law. The issue
of mandatory registration will be discussed when the Bill reaches the
Standing Committee .”

After Parliament passes the amendment Bill,
Sikh marriage certificates won’t be issued under Section 2 of the Hindu
Marriage Act (as is the case now). The Cabinet decision comes a year
after the government decided to drop the proposal of amending the Anand
Marriage Act and Salman Khurshid informed the Rajya Sabha of the
decision.

The Tribune was the first to report the move on August
29, 2011, following which the Sikhs began fresh agitations for a demand
that had once been approved by the Standing Committee on Law when
Veerappa Moily was the Law Minister.
But later the move fell flat.

Khurshid recently proposed
religion-neutral registration of all marriages — a move which the Sikhs
slammed. Former Chairperson of the National Minority Commission
Tarlochan Singh wrote a protest letter to Law Minister Salman Khurshid,
demanding amendment to the Anand Marriage Act and not a religion-neutral
marriage registration law.

“This is the victory of Sikhs; we had
fought for this right for decades,” Tarlochan Singh said today. Akali
Dal’s Rajya Sabha member Naresh Gujral also welcomed the decision
saying. “It’s sad that Sikhs who sacrificed
so much for the country had to feel alienated over such a small
demand. We thank the PM and the Cabinet as this decision reassures
minorities that their interests are protected. We want to congratulate
Tarlochan Singh, former MP, who spearheaded the campaign in Parliament.”

In
the Cabinet, Information Minister Ambika Soni proposed that the
amendment Bill be titled Anand Karaj Amendment Bill, 2012. This title is
likely to be retained. So far, marriages amongst Sikhs, Hindus, Jains,
Buddhists and other communities, except Muslims, Christians, Parsis and
Jews, were covered under the Hindu Marriage Act.